Marital Musings of a Butterfly
by Snakespur
Summary: Choji reflects on how he ended up marrying Sakura and ponders if she married him for anything more than convenience and stability. At the same time, Choji has to deal with Sasuke paying a visit to his ex-wife and daughter, leading to a conversation on relationships between the two unlikely characters. Takes place 15 years after the Ninja War with flashbacks of key moments.
1. Prologue Part One

**A/N:** Hey everyone, Snakespur here. I know I promised you all that I wouldn't start anything else until _The Large Ashikabi_ was finished, but this idea has been floating around in my head for a couple days now and I just had to get it down and uploaded. I do apologize for not updating my main story and I don't really have an excuse for why I haven't been recently. I'm hoping to get back to it later on in this break though.

This short story is also a way for me to get back into the swing of writing and letting the "creative juices flow" so to speak. I'm not 100% sure how long this story will be, other than the fact that it'll definitely shorter than _TLA._

* * *

If somebody had told Choji fifteen years ago that he'd be married to Sakura Haruno at some point in his life, he would have probably had that person checked into the nearest mental hospital to make such an outlandish statement. However, to the great surprise of many, especially himself, that was exactly what happened.

Not long after the Fourth Shinobi World War, Konoha, along with the rest of the villages had their work cut out for them; recovering from the horrors of Madara Uchiha's attempt at ruling the world as a god. Needless to say, this involved a lot of rebuilding and healing, along with tracking down the remaining enemy bases and resources.

It was through a series of these search and destroy missions that Choji and Sakura began to see more of each other and their friendship grew. Romance was not on either shinobi's mind, mainly due to Sakura's relationship with Sasuke. However, both were proud to call the other, friend.

A year after the Shinobi World War, Sakura married Sasuke, with Choji attending as one of the groomsmen at the pinkette's request.

Sasuke, who was so far out of touch with his old academy mates, was in no real position to deny her anything, mainly glad that he wasn't going to be killed on sight anymore and full of remorse over what he did.

For the first year of their marriage, Choji noted that Sakura and Sasuke were pretty happy together, up until the birth of Sarada, now two years after the war. However, it was a few weeks after Sakura came home from the hospital with her and Sasuke's daughter that things began to turn sour.

Even after all these years, Choji could still remember holding baby Sarada, while Sakura clung to him as mother and daughter wept unashamedly into his shirt the night that husband and father expressed the desire to divorce and leave them.

The reasons Sasuke gave everyone for this decision were to assist Konoha in maintaining the hard-fought peace, and wanting to see the world through the eyes of a true shinobi and not an avenger or terrorist.

Initially, Choji was as angry as the rest of their friends at Sasuke's apparent run from responsibility; and confused as to why he couldn't travel the world _and_ stay married. However, the more he thought about it, the more Choji was convinced that the divorce was done out of guilt more so than anything else.

Unlike most of his friends, Choji stopped being angry at the Uchiha after coming to this conclusion. He still disagreed with Sasuke's poor handling of the situation, but he could understand where he was coming from. Besides, Choji's kind nature prevented him from holding grudges for long; a rare trait in the ninja world.

He would never know for quite some time, but his guess at Sasuke's motivation was more or less correct. As Sakura's pregnancy took its course, the Uchiha began to question if he really deserved to be happy with a family of his own. By the time Sarada was born, and it became all the more real, Sasuke had convinced himself that he didn't deserve to be a part of his wife and child's life; at least not without some form of atonement. Despite Sakura, and Naruto's best and tearful attempts to convince him otherwise, Sasuke had already left the village with the permission of the Hokage at the time, Kakashi.

O.O.O.O.O

Personally, Kakashi was also disappointed in his former pupil's decision to leave Sakura in such a fashion. As the leader of a ninja village however, he also recognized the value in having a shinobi of Sasuke's caliber in the world, maintaining the uneasy peace in the wake of the Great Ninja War. Knowing that he had to look at the big picture, the former copy-nin gave the Uchiha permission to come and go as he pleased, even going as far as to inform the other villages of his decision in the hopes that Sasuke would help them too. Still, it was against his judgement as a former teacher that he did this, seeing as how it reminded him of how Sasuke was in the years leading up to the break out of the war. It was only for the sake of Konoha itself and the desire to maintain peace that Kakashi kept quiet about how he really felt about it.

O.O.O.O.O

Throughout the first couple years after Sasuke's departure, Choji did his best to be there for Sakura and her daughter. Whenever he wasn't on a mission, you would quite often find the large shinobi babysitting Sarada whenever her mother took shifts at the hospital. Sakura didn't trust many people outside of a few close friends with her one and only daughter, so Choji was honored to be among that number.

Later on, he would recall that spending time with Sarada, with or without her mother brought him joy the likes of which he never knew existed and it was throughout these first couple years after Sasuke's departure that Choji found himself falling in love with Sakura.

Unfortunately, Choji's new-found confidence, discovered during the Great Ninja War did not extend to matters of the heart, and it was through his own action, or rather inaction that prevented him from moving forward for a long time.

At first, he used all of the obvious reasons to protect his feelings from opening up to the possibility of rejection:  
 _'It's too soon after Sasuke. The wounds are still fresh.'  
'If I confess now, it would make our friendship awkward.'  
'Oh, it's Sarada's second birthday, I don't want to ruin it with my stupid crush.'_

On it went, until Choji's excuses become flimsier and flimsier:  
 _'Sakura had a busy time at the hospital, I don't want to bother her with my silly feelings.'_

 _'Well, I was going to confess today, but Iruka-Sensei said he needed me to sub for one of his classes.'_

Eventually, the reasons he used to justify himself in keeping his feelings hidden went from flimsy to downright stupid:

 _'Nope, not going to do it today, the flaps on my favorite pair of sandals broke, that's bad luck no matter how you look at it!'_

 _'I would confess now, but there's a huge discount at the all you can eat buffet at Yakiniku Q! I can't afford to miss it!'_

When Choji's feelings for Sakura were finally out in the open, it happened in an unexpected way. Choji would later confess to Shikamaru that no matter how awkward it was, he still considered it one of his best memories.

* * *

 **A/N:** There we go, the first part of the prologue is done and this time I decided to be mean and leave things at a cliff-hanger, mainly because I'm curious to see how many people are interested in this. Unfortunately, I see this short story as getting more views and favorites than _TLA_ , since the Naruto community is so much bigger. Anyway, see you in the next chapter.

Edited slightly: June 6th, 2017


	2. Prologue Part Two

**A/N:** Hi all, here's part two of the prologue for this short story, and I apologize if the first chapter was boring. Sadly, this one is going to be more of the same. Normally, I try not to include this much exposition, but for the purposes of this fanfic, I think it's necessary to include the backstory on Sakura and Sasuke's relationship, as well as the origin and motivations behind her relationship with Choji. If you don't agree, then I'm sorry to hear that. You are of course welcome to skip the prologue and get right to the main story, though I'm not sure how much it'll take away from your reading.

Please try to bare with me as this is also the first time I'm writing a story that focuses solely on relationships without any action or subplots of any description. I don't consider myself a "romance author."

With that out of the way, I hope you enjoy:

* * *

 _Four Years after the War..._

Choji took several calming breaths as he stood in front of Sakura's apartment in the former Uchiha district on the outskirts of the village.

Before he left, many people still had trouble forgiving Sasuke for the damage he had caused during his tenure as a missing-nin. Driven away by less-than-friendly neighbors, he and Sakura moved to the outskirts of the village to escape. By the time her husband left for parts unknown, the pink-haired kunoichi was too settled in her place to consider moving. If it wasn't for recent breakthroughs in technology, Sakura would be even more hard-pressed to raise her daughter alone. The hassles of raising a two-year-old as a single mother led Sakura to invest in these machines and more to make things as easy as possible for herself and her daughter.

However, none of this was important to Choji at the moment. Today, he was going to confess his feelings to Sakura and damn the consequences! He just couldn't keep living like this! He couldn't sleep! He could barely eat! And he was becoming increasingly distracted with thoughts of pink hair, green eyes, and a kind smile.

Choji couldn't tell you when the exact moment came in which he started seeing one of his closest friends and comrades in a more romantic light, only that it was starting to interfere with his life. So here he was, standing in front of her door in the dying sunlight of the pleasantly cool autumn evening, trying to prepare himself for something that made an S-rank mission look like a cake walk.

With one final breath, and a nervous comb through his small beard, the husky, 20 year-old Jounin raised a large fist to knock on the door. However, before he could, the door opened and the object of his affection appeared with a bundled up two-year-old in tow and a troubled expression on her pretty face.

As always, the sight of her took Choji's breath away and caused him to freeze up for a second, causing Sakura to bump into him and Sarada to let out some unhappy sounds from the sudden movement. After calming her daughter with a few hushed words, the kunoichi turned her green gaze on him.

"Oh Choji! I'm sorry. I didn't realize you were there! Why don't you come in? We were just on our way to see you!" she exclaimed, moving away from the threshold and holding the door open with her free hand.

Her voice snapped Choji out of his stupor long enough for him to focus on the single Mom and her toddler. "No, I'm sorry Sakura, m-maybe I should come back tomorrow if now's not a good time," he replied, his panicked mind not registering the fact that Sakura had just said she was coming to see him.

"N-No, please come in Choji!" Sakura wasn't sure if she was scared or glad that Choji had appeared unexpectedly. What she had to say would require some finesse and preparation, neither of which she had at the moment; now that the possibility of thinking on how to phrase it was removed. "Why don't you take a seat, I'll get us a drink, if you would keep an eye on Sarada," came the next stilted line.

With a mumble of thanks, Choji awkwardly lumbered his way into the apartment, trying to get his bearings back. He made his way, zombie-like to the couch, eventually becoming aware of the impatient Sarada trying to get his attention.

With another deep breath, Choji felt himself recover and spare a glance at the humble, but messy living room. A couple of Sarada's toys were spotted here and there, but were thankfully out of the way of the main pathways of the house for once. Food was still opened and uneaten on the dining room table, causing Choji to think that Sakura's decision to visit him was a spur-of-the moment thing. The Akimichi glanced over at the kitchen, eyes falling on the drawing-covered refrigerator as the single-mother scurried about. With some amusement, he realized that Sakura had thrown almost none of her child's artwork away; proof that a mother's love was present.

Eventually, Choji turned his attention to the dark-haired two-year-old, as she held out a page from what he guessed was a coloring book for him to inspect. The picture was of a cartoonish butterfly depicting a face and a wide smile with a sloppily shaded body where Sarada had attempted to stay inside the lines.

Despite most of the color falling outside of the butterfly's body, Choji still felt a sense of happiness as he realized that she wanted him to have it. While he had received a couple of coloring book pages from her before, it was clear that Sakura had helped her if the neatly shaded images were anything to go by. The butterfly picture before him contained nothing but the scribblings of a two-year-old.

O.O.O.O.O

Sakura had also calmed down as she returned to the living room with a small glass of wine for herself and water for Choji, knowing that the big man was not much of a drinker. She paused at the threshold of her kitchen to observe the interaction between Choji and her daughter, a rare smile on her face. He reverently took the food-stained and messily colored drawing that Sarada had worked on all day, not allowing her mother to help as she normally would, insisting on making it perfect for "daddy."

As usual, when the subject of fathers came up, Sakura's soft smile turned wistful as she thought about Sarada's real Dad, always off on some errand for the village or exploring some obscure part of the world.

Not for the first time did Sakura desperately wish for her ex-husband to just stay home so they could be a family. It's not as if Sasuke was a bad father or anything like that. Indeed, on the very few instances he did visit, it was easy to tell that he enjoyed being around them. Sasuke would wear that rare, but gentle smile that Sakura loved about him as he interacted with his only child. The three of them would always relax in the pleasantly cool house, usually lying stretched out on a bed or cozied up against one another on the living room couch. Sasuke would tell of his travels across the world. Sarada of course, was too young to understand any of the stories but the soothing sound of Sasuke's voice never failed to entrance her.

However, despite Sakura and Sasuke's best efforts, their daughter would only call him "unca," or "nunca," unable to see him as anything but a distant relative, even at such a young age. It was clear that his extended absences were stunting the bond between father and child. That thought always broke Sakura's heart in more ways than one, and she could tell it bothered Sasuke too, though he could hide it a lot better. Sadly, despite her best attempts to get him to stay, he would find some excuse to leave them once again, chipping away Sakura's soul each time it happened.

Heavy feelings of heartache, desperation, and loneliness are what prompted her to conclude that she couldn't do this alone anymore; not with the stresses of working as a medical ninja, paying rent, managing a household, and raising a daughter by herself. There weren't many men she could turn to for help, not for something like this; which brought her to Choji; her closest male friend, closer in some ways, than even Naruto.

So, after handing him his water, sitting beside him on the couch, and draining her wine in a couple mouthfuls, she looked him in the eyes and said it: "I love you Choji, I want to marry you."

Sakura inwardly winced at how rehearsed it sounded, but was more concerned with the guilt she immediately felt for saying it. She was going to hell for this, no doubt about it. Having long since guessed Choji's feelings for her, and intentionally manipulating them to her advantage, she knew there was no other reward for her.

Still, it was getting to the point that she was hating life. Sakura knew that Choji was too blinded by his feelings to notice the physical evidence, but it was there, even if she was counting on his habitual obliviousness to work in her favor.

To the normal observer, she was noticeably thinner from the crushing stress of single parenthood and being torn between her personal desires and personal responsibilities. There were bags under her eyes from too many night shifts at the hospital or crying sessions from Sarada, and on top of it all, she just felt irritable, impatient, and depressed at almost all hours of the day, minus when Sasuke or Choji visited.

Sakura should have realized that she had more friends to count on than she knew, but her burned out mind, coupled with a shaken trust in men due to her husband's sudden divorce refused to see anything or anyone other than the man in front of her as a form of salvation.

Whether he knew it or not, Choji was the greatest anchor in her life and she depended on and cared for him far more than she was willing to admit, even to herself. However, she would also be the first to say that her main reason for wanting to marry Choji was stability and security as opposed to genuine love.

O.O.O.O.O

Choji blinked at Sakura's declaration and really took a look at her for the first time in what felt like a while. Tired but sincere green eyes stared back at him, as their owner awaited his reaction. Taking a brief second to look over her entire face, it finally occurred to Choji just how worn down she looked, even if he still hadn't realized it was from more than just a few days lack of sleep.

Finally, his mind registered her words and his eyes widened in surprise. Out of the many scenarios that played in Choji's head on how this visit would go, this was not one of them, not by a long shot!

Still, such a declaration deserved a prompt response, so in much the same fashion as Sakura, Choji just replied in a straight up and honest way. "I'm in love with you too Sakura, but are you sure you want to get married just like that?" Normally, he'd wonder why his friend would confess her apparent feelings out of the blue like that, but as Choji would later recall, he was too caught up in the fact that the girl of his dreams could feel the same way about him, thus allowing his well-known common sense to take a back seat. At the time, asking Sakura if 'she was sure' was more of a reflexive question as opposed to a genuine concern.

There was nothing more that took place that evening, since both parties could scarcely believe their wildest dreams were coming true, even if it was for different reasons. Choji and Sakura played with Sarada for a few hours, before he excused himself to go back home, promising to talk more about it the following day.

That night, Choji bedded down with a smile so big, that his face would ache come morning as he dreamt of family life with Sakura as his wife. Sarada's coloring page was attached firmly to the wall and framed in a place of honor above the small fire place of his bachelor pad in the Akimichi district of Konoha.

O.O.O.O.O

The day of Choji and Sakura's wedding couldn't come fast enough for the excited couple, but actually took place about a month after their feelings were made known to one another. Friends and family of the bride and groom attended and did their best to disguise their worry over such speedy nuptials. Everyone and their mother knew that Sakura and Choji had rushed into this wedding, but did their best to be happy for the new couple and offered their sincerest congratulations.

Predictably, Choji selected Shikamaru as his Best Man with Kiba, Naruto, Sai, Shino, and Lee as the groomsmen.

Similarly, Sakura chose Ino for Maid of Honor with the bridesmaids as follows: Hinata, TenTen, Temari, along with her master and fellow apprentice, Tsunade, and Shizune.

In the years following the War, Choji and Sakura also became something akin to mentors for Udon and Moegi respectively, having outgrown following Naruto around. As a result, they were the Ring Bearer and Flower Girl at the ceremony.

O.O.O.O.O

The entire thing was everything Choji and Sakura could have hoped for: food, friends, and happiness. Choji would later remark to Shikamaru that his face had hurt for days after from all the smiling and laughing he had done during the wedding.

The honeymoon was a whirlwind of passion and heat as both Choji and Sakura celebrated being married, but for different reasons. To the casual observer, they would seem quite happy and very much in love with one another as new couples are.

However, no one would ever guess that this was only true for one side of the equation. First and foremost, Sakura had married for stability, which Choji would not have the misfortune of learning for quite some time. It wasn't until years later during one of Sasuke's rare visits would a new understanding blossom between the new husband and wife…

* * *

 **A/N:** Well, I hope it was okay. I'll admit it felt pretty awkward to write about pure romance, relationships, and fluff, but I suppose it's good to get out of your comfort zone. This one focused more on Sakura's character and I honestly hope I presented her in a believable way. I understand that the Naruto community is much larger and so the risk of criticism is greater.

As I may have mentioned in _The Large Ashikabi_ , I'm open to criticism, as long as it's done in a polite way.

With that being said, see you next time!- Snakespur

Edited on June 6th, 2017


	3. Chapter 1: Drinks with Sai

**A/N:** Here's the next chapter, which delves into Choji's exact fears with Sasuke's visit looming on the horizon. I also decided to give a bit of backstory on my OC and in this story, Choji's biological daughter. I decided to change her name to Cholauna, since using the already existing character's name, Chocho for a character who looks completely different is somewhat lazy. I will also make the appropriate changes in the other chapters.

Anyway, hope you enjoy this one.

* * *

 _Present Day_

Despite the advances in technology, including security cameras and alarm systems, Naruto still believed that a steadfast shinobi with a friendly, outgoing exterior would allow Konoha to shown as a peaceful village to all travelers. As a result, it was one of the things he kept the same after taking the Hokage office. A decision that a certain big-boned Akimichi agreed with, as he glanced up at the approach of two of his comrades and friends.

Choji gave nothing more than a polite nod to Kiba and Shino as the two shinobi arrived to relieve him and Sai at the guard post next to the main entrance of the village. If Kiba and Shino were concerned by the almost-cold greeting from the normally friendly Akimichi, they didn't show it, merely returning the nod. Still, both men couldn't help but feel concerned for their friend.

With Choji's attention returning to what he was doing, it fell on Sai to take care of the social niceties, which was still interesting to say the least, even after all these years. While his ROOT training of ignoring all emotion was more or less gone at this point, Sai was never much of a people person to begin with, despite marrying a social butterfly like Ino. None-the-less, he did his best to make small talk to the other shinobi as Choji absently filled out the guard report without really looking at it.

Unbeknownst to the other three men, Choji's mind was dwelling on the news he had received from Sakura yesterday after dinner:

 _Choji and Sakura stood side-by-side over the sink, washing and drying the dishes after another delicious meal. Their daughters, Sarada and Cholauna had already asked to be excused and had gotten their parents' permission to go outside after they finished eating._

 _Normally, Choji or Sakura would make their offspring assist with cleaning up after a meal, but from the way his wife had been acting, Choji suspected that she had something important to tell him in private. If either girl was curious as to their Mom's sudden generosity at not assigning them work, they didn't say anything for fear of being told to do chores after all._

 _After extracting promises to be home before 10, Choji and Sakura saw their daughters to the door, before shutting it behind them. "What's wrong Sakura?" Choji asked as they took a seat on the T.V room couch._

 _Sakura looked down at their now clasped hands before answering, "I received a letter from Sasuke saying that he wants to see Sarada fight in the Chunin exams." Sakura looked up with a panicked expression on her face, though Choji wasn't sure why. Before he could comment on it, she told him the reason: "I uh…haven't told him that we're married…"_

 _Choji's closed his eyes in exasperation, his mind already thinking about the positives and negatives of keeping it a secret. "Sakura…" he sighed._

 _She averted her eyes, ashamed. "I was scared okay! I figured that since Sasuke wasn't around anyway, I saw no reason to tell him about my personal life. He really only asked about Sarada, so I figured that anything else wasn't his business._

 _Choji opened his eyes and stared at her with slight disappointment. "Well, what have you told him?"_

 _She replied, "Only updates concerning Sarada, and that I've had plenty of help with everything. I'm not lying, I'm just…omitting some details…"_

 _Choji gently rubbed her knuckles with a large thumb, as he digested this information. It was somewhat insulting that Sakura hadn't seen fit to tell Sasuke about him, especially since he played such a huge role in raising his only child, the man deserved that much. However, it wasn't in his nature to stay mad for long. Finally, he said in a gentle tone, "Do you know when he'll arrive?"_

 _Sakura sighed in relief, apparently glad that Choji wasn't upset with her anymore. "Only that it was going to be in the next couple days," came the slightly-nervous reply._

 _Choji smiled in understanding, before giving Sakura a comforting hug and a peck on the lips. "Well, we'll deal with it when he gets here. At the very least, Sarada will be able to meet her birth father in person.* That'll be good, right…?" (end flashback)_

O.O.O.O.O

 _'_ _but will it really?'_ Choji wasn't sure. Knowing he couldn't do anything about it now, he tried to push his troubled thoughts away and focus on the task at hand.

Eventually, Choji finished the guard report and bade Kiba and Shino goodbye, before he and Sai headed for their usual watering hole in one of the more developed areas in Konoha.

With Shikamaru's promotion to Hokage's assistant, Choji rarely saw his lazy friend anymore. Instead, it was usually Sai that he found himself in the company of, mainly due to his wife's connection to him as a teammate, and of course his own teammate's marriage to the man.

The two shinobi walked in companionable silence as the Akimichi mulled over Sasuke's upcoming return. It has been over a decade since he saw the Uchiha last, and it was strange for him to just show up out of the blue after so long. As far as Choji knew, Sasuke hadn't been in direct contact with Sakura at all since Sarada's birth. He supposed letters may have been exchanged, but to have him suddenly express his desire to be a part of their lives again made Choji feel uneasy, which led him to go to Sai for advice.

While Choji had initially steered clear of Sai in their younger days, he had grown to respect the former ROOT member for his efforts in the war and his habit for providing brutally honest conversation. The two had a fine friendship and of course, enjoyed the occasional drink after work.

It was a desire for this unfiltered honesty that brought Choji to the conclusion that he needed someone else's opinion for the current predicament he found himself in. After sitting down in their usual booth and ordering their drinks, he got straight to the point, knowing Sai would appreciate it. "Sasuke is coming back for the first time in ten years, and I'm afraid that I'm going to lose most of my family in the process."

Choji nervously nursed his non-alcoholic drink as he waited for Sai to process this information. Privately, he admitted to himself that the socially-stunted ROOT operative probably wasn't the best person to ask for relationship advice, but Sai and Ino appeared to have a stable relationship, so the large Akimichi was willing to give him a chance.

The wait wasn't long as Sai took a sip of his drink and replied with "How is Sakura taking the news?"

"She looked pretty terrified when she told me last night. I think she's afraid of the same thing, but I'd be lying if I said she wasn't looking forward to it as well." It was hard to tell for someone who didn't know Sakura, but for Choji, who had been married to her for over ten years, could read those slight changes in her facial expression. While fear was still the dominant emotion, he could also tell she was eager to see him again as well. "I don't know how I feel about that…" he admitted.

Both men were silent for a couple more minutes, nursing their drinks and allowing the cheerful music to wash over them. A few more customers shuffled in as the bar steadily began to fill up. The bar began to steadily fill up as more weary citizens, fresh off of work arrived to unwind after a stressful day. With the increased crowd, the bartender flipped on the television and changed it to a talk-show portraying an interview with Naruto.

"Well, if you're worried about Sasuke coming back into their lives and taking them away from you, I wouldn't be. Sakura isn't some brainless, love struck teen; not anymore. She's well aware of how much you've given to her and her daughter. Sarada is also intelligent enough to realize who actually deserves the title of father," explained Sai as he finished his drink.

"Indeed," Sai continued, after he saw Choji's expression. "Whenever I see her, Sakura always mentions how helpful you are and all the nice things you've done for her and Sarada. Usually, I tell her how annoying it is after a while," the artist concluded.

Choji looked down at his half-empty glass, ashamed. Sakura and Sarada leaving him in favor of Sasuke had been one of his chief fears. The Akimichi knew that Sakura wasn't like that anymore, though he had been guilty of thinking she would be. His wife had told him on several occasions how difficult it was to shake the fangirl reputation and how it occasionally plagues her to this day. Still, he was pretty sure this wasn't an irrational fear, not after what happened a couple years back:

 _Flashback_

 _Choji came home absolutely exhausted. He was assigned a two-week long B rank mission of protecting some distant relative of the Fire Daimyo. The egotistical and superior nonsense that the man had spouted without pause, was enough to nearly dry up even Choji's deep well of patience._

 _After crossing the threshold, he noticed Sakura staring at him with a lustful gleam in her eyes. Judging from her own haggard appearance, Choji had guessed that her shift at the hospital had been every bit as stressful. It was clear she wanted him and wanted him now. This was fine with Choji of course, seeing as how he was thinking along the same lines._

 _Almost as if there was some non-existent cue, they crossed the room and immediately met in a passionate embrace of kissing and touching. Clothes were strewn randomly, as Sakura absently whispered that the kids were at Hinata and Naruto's house at her request. Scooping her up bridal style, Choji carried her upstairs to their bedroom…_

 _O.O.O.O_

 _Choji grunted as Sakura rode atop him, her small breasts bouncing in time with his thrusts from below. The Akimichi barely had time to warn Sakura, before he released inside of her, which was enough to bring her to climax as well._

 _"_ _Give it to me! Sasuk-e-e-e!" she cried out, as she collapsed on top of him, utterly spent._

 _Choji felt as if a bucket of ice water was dumped on his head, as the fog of lust gave way to cold shock. He looked up at her with a hurt expression, only to find her eyes already closed and in the process of dozing off. It appeared she had no idea that she had called out a different name, and after a few minutes of reasoning himself out of his negative feelings he wrote it off as a heat of the moment thing._

 _By the time Choji felt himself start to fade, he was ready to forget all about it, until Sakura's next mumbled sentence kept him from sleep the remainder of the night._

 _"_ _I love you Sasuke…"._

 _End Flashback_

Whether or not she was aware of what had been said was moot point to Choji. It's true you could have excused her actions, since both of them were stressed out and just looking for release, but there have been a few other times over the years during other love-making sessions, that Sasuke's name had slipped out. Each time she had immediately apologized, which Choji had forgiven, but after that she would clam up and refuse to let him touch her in any way.

These incidents were incredibly rare and they hadn't happened in years, but they still happened. While Choji was reasonably confident in Sakura's feelings for him, news of Sasuke's reappearance drove to the surface, old doubts and fears that he hadn't felt in ages.

Stuffing away these insecurities, the Akmichi tried to focus on his comrade's words. "Maybe your right, Sai. Anyway, I'm going to head home. Thanks for the advice, and tell Ino I said hi." Choji drained the rest of his drink in a single gulp and insisted that he be the one to pay for the drinks as a way of thanks.

"Take care Choji, and if you're still not sure of Sakura's feelings, you could always screw her brains out! That might convince her!" said Sai with a grin. Choji sighed, and rolled his eyes but thanked him for the statement anyway.

O.O.O.O

With one last wave, he departed the bar and stepped out into the busy streets of the Village. The sun in the process of setting and the air turned cool as Choji did his best to move around the populace without bumping into anyone. At a towering 6'5,'' Choji felt like a giant among men as he headed for the Akimichi district of Konoha.

After they married, Choji was able to convince Sakura to move from Konoha's outskirts and settle in clan territory, much closer to the hospital and surrounded by kind neighbors. It took some doing, but the arrival of Cholauna caused them to move almost out of necessity.

Choji's biological daughter was two years younger than Sarada, and hopefully one-third of the next Ino-Shika-Cho formation. Despite the two-year age difference between her and most of her class, Cholauna turned out to be a prodigy and had thankfully inherited her mother's keen mind, allowing her to advance to Genin at the age of 8. Now at 10 years old, she was taking the Chunin exam alongside Sarada, and he couldn't be more proud of them both.

Choji knew it would also break her heart if she was separated from her step-sister. Sarada and Cholauna were closer than many blood-related siblings and rarely fought one another.

Despite Sai's comforting words, he couldn't help but imagine the worst-case scenarios, each one worse than the last. Mechanically, Choji arrived at his destination and punched in the five-digit number into the electronic keypad with a sigh. Hearing the familiar dull thunk of the lock sliding away, he let himself inside, no closer to finding a solution to his dilemma than he had at the start of the day.

* * *

 **A/N:** Well, I hope this was an enjoyable chapter and this time, I tried not to end on a cliff hanger. I'm hoping I portrayed an adult Sai fairly well in this one, even if he wasn't around for long. I think 15 years of not being a part of ROOT would be enough time for his training in not displaying emotions to be mostly undone. Additionally, 15 years of socializing would be long enough to gain some social tact, even if he doesn't always use it.

 ***I just want to point out here that I'm going with the fact that Sasuke stopped visiting when Sarada was around two, so her memories of him in this story will be fuzzy at best.**

I also wanted to provide a bit of background to Choji's biological daughter. While I don't think she'll play a huge role in this story, I think it's worth mentioning.

Next time, we see Choji interact directly with his family in the present time.

See you next time,

-Snakespur

Edited with additions: June 8th, 2017


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